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Complexity on the margin: environmental change and socio-economic transformation in the Tehran Plain and the development of water management

Gavin Gillmore (Centre for Earth and Environmental Sciences Research, Kingston University)

Abstract

Far from remaining subject to the vagaries of water supply in a semi-arid environment, the inhabitants of one prehistoric settlement, Tepe Pardis on the Tehran Plain, adapted early to an unstable fan environment by utilising their adjacent clay deposits. They developed an almost industrial rate of ceramic production by c. 5000 BC and cut artificial channels parallel to the natural courses of the fan. This community managed both their water resources and their changing environment. This study presents direct evidence in the form of a triangular cross-section channel for Late Neolithic artificial water management, which may represent the earliest example of artificial water management in Iran. The antiquity of this channel is supported by C14 dating, associated ceramic sherds and correlation with Late Neolithic levels. The nature and function of this channel is evaluated through comparisons with natural channels (ancient and modern) together with evidence from sedimentology and palynology.